Deeds and other land records are an important part of building any family tree. Outside of telling you what land your ancestors may have owned, and where it was located, deeds are also a potential source of information on family members, family relationships, and other locations in which your ancestor lived. Each time you read a deed for your ancestor, ask yourself the following questions.

What do you do when you don't know where someone was born. On the census forms it says that my ggrandfather was born in England on one and Illinois on one. His wife in Illinois, but there is no record of her birth that I can find or any record of her before 1880. No records at all of my ggrandfather. The place of birth was on census records of my grandfather.

SCRAPPERFLO, there is so much information available online now. I don't mean just what other people say is information, I mean records that verify the information. That is great for those of us who can't afford to travel all over searching for them. If you are on Facebook, there are some really good genealogy groups available there - some research in general related & some are location specific. It all helps.

Hi there- Sandy thanks so much for all that information - I am just now restarting my genealogy research. It finally got my computer upgraded so I can now copy over my previous family tree information. I was really into it a few years ago, but sorta lost interest cause I hit a brick wall Maybe now that new stuff is available, I'll be able continue. Again, thanks, Flo

A couple of things that are free this weekend, which I'm not going to put on the thread for free resources because they are free just for this weekend.

For those who don't currently subscribe to Ancestry, this weekend (through Monday) access to the US birth, marriage, and death records is free, which includes access to the newly added probate records. There aren't a ton of probate records, but there are records for all 50 states so its worth a look. New records are added constantly, so if you haven't looked in a while, now is a good time.

Also free this weekend, but only through Sunday, is a new book from Thomas MacEntee, The 15 Habits of Frugal Genealogists. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B014RXIPR0/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B014RXIPR0&linkCode=as2&tag=geneabloggers-20&linkId=2UWMF3MVEXZGEEH3

Remember, you don't have to have a Kindle reader to read the Kindle versions of books. You can download free software to your computer or the app to other devices which will allow you to read Kindle ebooks.

The 1940 census of the United States is a particularly exciting one for genealogists for a number of reasons — the most obvious being that is was only indexed and released for public consumption a few years ago. The new records gave many of us a special chance to add vital new details to the our ancestors’ stories.

But there is a critical element of this massive family history resource that often gets overlooked. Built into the 16th census of the USA was a brand new initiative — the collection of a statistical sample of information for the purpose of extrapolating demographic data for the entire US.

This means that 5% of individuals listed in the census, or approximately 2 on every page, were asked additional questions about their lives. Many researchers may already be aware of this–but for those who are new to census research, or who are simply not expecting the supplemental information, it can be easy to miss these ‘secret’ details. 5% may not seem like a lot, but given that most families have multiple members listed on a page your chances of having a relation included are pretty good.

Do you want to become a more successful historic newspaper researcher and find more ancestor articles? Read the lessons and articles here and then search over 15,000 FREE links to digitized online newspapers from the U.S., Canada and the rest of the world.

PAG2809 I'll have to agree that visiting cemeteries & "cleaning" gravestones is one of the more controversial topics in genealogy today. If you look at 6 different "experts" you may very well come up with 6 different "best ways" to do it.

Sandy, in my opinion, that article is light on cautions and doesn't go into enough detail. Here's an article that goes into more detail. While it seems like a lot of preparation and caution for a trip out to take photos and read inscriptions, since I now live near cemeteries that go back as far as before the Revolutionary War, I don't believe its possible to be too cautious. www.gravestonepreservation.info/articles/cleaning-gravestones-monuments-stR>one-sculptures

If you are looking to restart or improve your genealogy research techniques, these are also top essential FB groups I recommend to help for tips and suggestions on "specific topics". None of these perform research, but are discussions for more help on how to. (You are required to join each one.)

Thank you for this link. I noticed that both of the links point to the same ebook but it seemed like you were referring to two different books. This one is the Slave Narratives ebook. Is there another? Thanks, Terri

All residents in the US during WW1 (1940-1944) had to fill out an Alien Registration if they 14 years or older & were born elsewhere. Since she was born in Ireland, she would have had to fill one out, so there would be a file on her. There is supposed to be a lot of personal information in the files. I filled out a request & filed it several days ago with the USCIS.

Typed out, it looks like a lot of information about my paternal grandmother, but it's all after she arrived in the US.

All residents in the US during WW1 (1940-1944) had to fill out an Alien Registration if they 14 years or older & were born elsewhere. Since she was born in Ireland, she would have had to fill one out, so there would be a file on her. There is supposed to be a lot of personal information in the files. I filled out a request & filed it several days ago with the USCIS.

Sarah Walsh Daughter of Martin Walsh (from her death certificate) b. 1 Nov 1879 in Newport, County, Mayo, Ireland sailed from Queenstown, Ireland aboard The Servia on 27 April 1898 arrived in New York on 6 June 1898 8 June 1900 US census in St. Louis, Missouri working as a servant 1900 married Charles C. Cottingham in St. Louis, MO 7 Dec 1902 son Robert C. Cottingham was born (d. 1 May 1927) 6 July 1904 son Charles Melvin Cottingham was born (d. 20 Aug 1930) 5 Oct 1906 son John C. Cottingham was born (d. 13 Nov 1923) 15 July 1908 son Thomas Vincent “Vince” Cottingham was born (d. 28 Aug 1951) 19 April 1910 US census living in St. Louis, MO 17 Dec 1910 husband Charles died About 1912 Sarah married Joseph Griffiths 1913 daughter Mary Griffiths was born 8 Jan 1920 US census living in St. Louis, MO 4 April 1930 US census living in St. Louis, MO 1932-1933-1935 listed with family in St. Louis city directory 1 April 1940 US census living in St. Louis, MO 6 Nov 1957 Sarah died 8 Nov 1957 buried in Calvary Cemetery in St. Louis

"A person's voice has always held more power over us than words alone." The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

John F. Blair, Publisher's "Real Voices, Real History™" series started with the WPA slave narratives. During the Depression, President Franklin Roosevelt employed jobless writers and researchers to capture thousands of voices of former slaves spread throughout the United States. The WPA eventually collected more than two thousand narratives from seventeen states, cataloging them in the Library of Congress as Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the U.S. from Interviews with Former Slaves. Though the WPA performed a major service by collecting these narratives, the stories languished in the Library of Congress for several decades until the 1970s when George Rawick put the narratives into a form that was more accessible to the public, entitled The American Slave: A Composite Biography.

Belinda Hurmence was among the first to realize that many readers were still intimidated by the multivolume sets of slave narratives made available by Rawick. Culling the narratives collected by the WPA and others, she edited her first concise volume of slave narratives, My Folks Don't Want Me To Talk About Slavery, providing insight into the lives of former slaves in North Carolina. Following the positive reaction she received from the public, she published two more volumes of slave narratives from South Carolina and Virginia. Her books have proved perennial bestsellers for John F. Blair, Publisher.

Finding that readers were hungry for that special voice the former slaves provided, John F. Blair, Publisher, started exploring the idea of expanding their line of slave narratives, and of expanding the idea of history told by the individuals who personally experienced it. Since then, John F. Blair, Publisher, has published 12 total volumes of slave narratives, three volumes from the Cherokees, and four other Real Voices, Real History collections. John F. Blair, Publisher, continues to expand the Real Voices, Real History series to this day. The newest volume Chained to the Land, edited by Lynette Ater Tanner, will be published in spring of 2014. www.blairpub.com/series/RealVoices.htm

In the late 1930s, the Federal Writers Project suddenly realized an important piece of history was slipping away, and they began interviewing former slaves from various States. I recently found these are available free on Amazon (and probably other places as well) for ebooks. I started with reading the background of why the Slave Narratives were done, as well as why they were written the way they were, before starting to read the Narratives themselves. The interviews I'vr read so far are really eye-openers. They're also a good resource for genealogists, as they contain information on slaves, slave names, slave owner names, and relationships. I'm just getting started, but I highly recommend reading these books. The wealth of information on slave life and the post-Civil War life is fascinating! www.amazon.com/Slave-Narratives-Interviews-Administrative-Selected-ebook/dR>p/B0082VDQBO/ref=sr_1_5?

It may be helpful to remember that census enumerators were generally (most years) instructed not to ask for clarification and that they census was not intended for this use - we're just lucky that we can see it and use it, or try to. The enumerators were instructed to record who the informant was for the 1940 census and I've seen a few 1930 entries where the informant is indicated. Other than that, there is no guarantee that an adult member of the household was the informant, increasing the chances of errors. Also, when people were illiterate as many of our ancestors were at some point, how could they have a correct spelling for their name? A general rule of thumb is to find at least 3 things stating each fact about someone. As you get further back this gets more difficult and then impossible, but when you're getting confused about more recent people its a good idea to keep looking.

I, lucky for me, have the birth records for my paternal grandparents. If I didn't I would have been really confused, because they both lied on multiple records and even to people who knew them. My grandmother never reported the correct name. Every few years she would spell her name differently - Catherine, Kathryn, Katherine. She used every variation. What does her birth certificate say? Kate. My grandparents separated in the early 20s and lived apart for the rest of their lives. My grandfather would tell people (especially women) that he had never been married and had no children, even though he always stayed in touch with the older kids. My grandmother often presented herself as a widow. As I said, good thing that they were a recent generation and I have both accounts from multiple family members and documents, because nearly everything they reported was wrong.

Thanks. Now I have Matthias' name spelled wrong. It has two "Ts" I finally found some information on him at familysearch. The 1870 census has him with his name spelled all wrong (Mathis Hasenstine) which I hadn't thought of looking for. Another census has him as Mathew Heisenstein. Don't know why that didn't show up when I tried M Heisenstein. I also found one there for my other ggrandfather on Dad's side, S.T. Hurley. It has all the family's names spelled wrong except for a James. And Grandpa's is spelled wrong. But this census has my ggrandfather born in Missouri, not in England like another one had it.

Many people have told me I have to look at the vital records and official census forms, etc., but they are all different, too. So I just keep getting confused and don't know where to find the correct information.

Ann, I got two husbands (Johnson and Heisenstein) from my grandmother's notes. She also listed her half siblings and sisters (one of which only lived to age 3). Someone on FB that has an ancestry membership (I can't afford that) looked my g-grandmother up and found a copy of a marriage certificate for Sarah Skidmore and William Coffman and one for Sarah Skidmore and Mathias Heisenstein. Her headstone shows her as Sarah Johnson with a large Skidmore on the stone and "married to M. Heisenstein." .Even without it saying Sarah Johnson on her headstone, I have the listing of her children from her marriage to James Johnson (also the listing of his marriage to her and his death, though not the certificate). I looked at the SOS.mo.gov site and again it told me to go to ancestry.com which doesn't help me at all to straighten this out.

Darlene, are you getting all of this from other people's trees? Those are fine as something to point you in a direction, but you're right, it proves nothing. You need some actual documents. I know nothing about research in England, but if you're on Facebook there are tons of genealogy groups. I'm sure that there's at least one for England and the members can tell you where to look for records.

As far as the two men, names that similar are really likely to be two iterations of the same name. It wouldn't be unusual to marry two men with the same surname - people lost one spouse and married a sibling all the time. Brothers wouldn't have shared a name though, even if its a middle name for one and a first name for the other. I'd assume its the same guy unless you find something that tells you otherwise.

I am getting more confused from it. My g-g-grandfather is either James Nelson Skidmore or just Nelson Skidmore. Then there is a new twist in a Sarah Margaret Skidmore that was born in 1950 and married William Coffman in 1869. My g-grandmother was born in 1950 and married James M Johnson in May of 1870. The Coffman connection was made by a Coffman descendant and that doesn't look like it is possible with the same name, year, and town for them. Sarah's Dad did die when she was only 3 according to what I found. For the James Nelson and Nelson I think they did have the same wife, so maybe that one is the same person. According to the sites I've found information on him he had two different Skidmores for his father. I just don't know how to confirm which line is right.

Darlene, the man she considered her father may not have been her biological father. Perhaps her biological father died when she was very young & her mother remarried to the man she considered her father.

How does one tell if they have the right ancestors when everybody has passed away that might have known the answers? I have what my grandmother had written down on my Dad's side and had something linked that gave me a lot of information back to the 1500s in England. I was trying to find information on her dad and found something on her mom that was different than what I had found before (different g-grandfather) and I have no way to figure that out so far. Then I just found someone else as her grandfather. I have also found her mother married to a different man, but I know that one is wrong. Either that or they had two Sarah Margaret Skidmores born the same year in MO. I know that her husbands were Johnson and Heisenstein and I know her children's names. But they have at least two different fathers listed for her and two or more grandfathers on that side (don't know the other grandfather, I don't think).

St.Louis, what was the name of the Facebook group that you emailed to us? I deleted that email before I could print it out, and there is an African-American heritage center in my hometown that might want to know about the group to see if they can help. :) If anything, can you resend me the email so I can print it off to give to them? Thanks! :)

"Nobody important? Blimey, that's amazing...in 900 years of time and space I have never met anyone who wasn't important before." -Doctor Who, the 12th Doctor, "A Christmas Carol."

That's a good question. Any older relatives that might have some information? If you are the one adopted, have you contacted the area where the adoption took place to see if they can give you any information at all? You might also try one or more of the adoption websites where biological parents & their children can post to try to get in contact with each other.

Not that we know of. My family was all in Illinois and then Missouri. I don't think that any of the Hurley side left there until my uncle moved to Arizona or my Dad moved to Colorado (don't know which happened first). I did get information from Maryalice that Hurley was English and O'Hurley was Irish. We always thought our ancestry was Scotch/Irish, but did have information on an English connection that I can't verify. Of course, that connection could also have been with Skidmore.

There's a certain amount of politics and economics involved in everything and sometimes its all about either politics - what that location was called then, who controlled it, and where the safe place to depart from was - or economics - what port they could afford to get to or where it was cheaper to come in to. I have friends with Russian Jewish heritage and that gets incredibly complicated. Mine is odd in its own way because every ancestor came over before Castle Garden or Ellis Island, most even before the ships were required to have manifests that listed all the passengers. One of the things that helped me was realizing how many generations of my family lived in the Manayunk section of Philadelphia with many of them working in the fabric mills there. Then I looked for history of that area and the mills. I didn't find anything that mentioned my ancestors specifically, but I learned what I wanted to know - what the occupations listed on the census did, why they were there, and what working in those mills was like. Since my paternal grandparents and my father's elder siblings worked in those mills as my great grandfather and his siblings did, this was a huge help. .

May also be why I can't find the passage of my Danish ancestor coming over. Parts of Denmark was under the control of Germans at times. Also have to think of countries that have changed names or no longer exist.

Maybe that is why my Mom and some of the other relatives insisted their ancestors were from a different part of Germany than they were from. Mom insisted they were French and not German (that part of Germany/France going back and forth between countries). Turns out they were from Prussia before it turned into Germany. Having a book on the other side of Grandma's family I know they were all from Germany. But Mom was born about the time of WW1 and that probably got them saying the different area, though the rest of her family never said they were French ancestry. Mom wouldn't even let them speak German to her, though the family always spoke German before that.

One of the things I've discovered is sometimes you have to widen your search past the places mentioned on census papers. They do get wrong birth places, dates, and even names. Sometimes the fault of the person taking the census, some from the person who interpreted the information, and others by the person who gave the information. Like one of my uncles German ancestors who didn't want them to know that he was German birth. (this was when WW1 started).

Yesterday I had an inquiry on my Tree to find the lady just joined and found my tree. We compared notes to find her Mother is the granddaughter of DH's ggfather brother. It is a family I've traced back to immigration in 1790 and still research.

I haven't been able to find her gfather in Ancestry and could be called my brick wall, however the relationship that is not too close was not that important to my tree - but, now that we connected I have so much information on the family to give her and she has that branch to fill in for me... fun,

Personal goal is to weigh in 159 by the end of March 2017. I did not make my previous goal so must do better...I ACHIEVED THE GOAL OF REACHING 151 IN MAY 2013. A LOSS OF 37 POUNDS! Summer of 2014 I gained 10 pounds of it back while traveling to the BVI's and Ireland so I have set a new goal for 2017 to be back to below 155.

My biggest brick wall is getting back past a paternal great-grandfather, Domenick Gillespie. I have him on the 1850 and 1860 census and I have his death certificate. He died in Philadelphia in 1867. His death certificate does not list his parents and he is an adult heading the household on both the 1850 and 1860 census. All of these records indicate that he was born in Pennsylvania about 1811. He may have been born in Montgomery County. In 1811 the part of Philadelphia he lived in all his life was part of Montgomery County, not Philadelphia County as it is today, so its possible that he spent his whole life in the same place. One of my cousins started researching back in the 60s and has looked for years, but so far neither of us has been able to find anything.

We live in a sue crazy world. But no way could you get all heirs to sign if you could find them all. I'm lucky the only one I'm getting stories from is my grandmother and aunts. If I see where someone else posted a story about one of my ancestors, I'll just add a link and not copy the story.

I have been getting Mocavo email newsletters and today they had this article on it about a requirement for a signed consent to record what you learn from others on your genealogy research. Thought I'd pass it on.

My Mom and everyone on her side of the family said that it was stupid to try to find out any information on our ancestors, so I couldn't get anything from any of them. One of my uncles gave quite a bit of information to the lady who did a book on her ancestors, who happen to be some of my ancestors, but then my cousin told me that he didn't know what he was talking about. What she has down makes perfect sense, though. She already had through my Grandma's name, just not down from there and those relatives I know, just not back farther. Some people just have no interest and don't want others to have the interest, either. My cousin't daughter, however, did have the interest to look into her ancestry. She won't have anything to do with me, though, so I can't find out anything about what she found out.

I agree Martha, branching out to other family members is helping me. Found a parent living with a sibling that helped me to go back another generation. Yesterday found someone with a lot of info on the Collins, so now have info going back to the 1640 England

My mom told me to be careful...that I might find something I don't like. She knew more than I but was not telling. I since have ferreted out some very interesting things from the family closet. She would have been so much help. Took me years to do it my way.

My name is Martha. My new ticker shows me slow as a bunny and going up and down . I want to level out

"Which we hope ever to do with ease we must first learn to do with diligence."

Sandy, as you probably know, researching someone not exactly related ( only by marriage) can lead to another person doing the same and thus you do find success. At first I thought I was only going to do my direct line...not even siblings. That did not last long, as I realized that by doing that I was limiting myself in finding people to connect with already researching my line.

Good luck with your recent hint.

My name is Martha. My new ticker shows me slow as a bunny and going up and down . I want to level out

"Which we hope ever to do with ease we must first learn to do with diligence."

Good luck with those brick walls everyone. I have a few myself. But today I'd like to know if any of you found out some touchy info about other family members that some might not want known. I found out one of my MIL's aunt wasn't a widow like she always clamed but was divorced. Def. will NOT tell my MIL about what I found.

My BRICK WALL: My grandmother , Julia Bailey of Green Mt., N. C. according to her , said her father was Jesse Bailey and her mother was Martha Louise McCurry. This is proven true. Martha's tome stone in MO. were she died, reads McCurry 1862-1904.

Granma said her mother's folks were Grant and Mary McCurry. She also mentioned that Mary was of Cherokee decent and put henna in her hair.

Bailey genealogist do not agree with any of this.

1880 Census have a Andrew Jackson McCourry and Sarah listing s a Martha L. of the correct age. He also has a son by the name of Grant. This is who most say is Mary's folks.

Arnold Brown, my ggrandfather. I know he comes from Iowa and his father's name was Fred. You try finding the right "Fred Brown" in Iowa! Grumble, grumble...

The Tigners (DH's maternal line), weaved a path across the South during the 1800s. I'm stuck trying to find Charley's parents, probably born in the 1830s (according to his death cert., they are J.T. Tigner and Indiana Anderson). No luck so far, could be in Texas, Louisiana, Georgia, or Alabama...

Ames, Texas

“I'm selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best.” ¯ Marilyn Monroe

Coleman Gates b. before July 1793 in CT, or VT or NY married Elizabeth Jane Weed before April 1845 they lived in NY before moving to Sheboygan, Wisconsin...looking for his parents and their marriage record.

I am following a suggestion from another member of this team. I just recently joined up here.

I have a question regarding a brick wall that has stymied me for years and wondered if anyone could help at all. Name: David Gordon Born: c.1780, Ardstraw, Co. Tyrone, Ireland Died: Mulatinny, Co. Tyrone, Ireland

Info: David was my 3rd gr-grandfather and his daughter Betty b. c1800 was his only heir to White House, Castlederg, Co. Tyrone, Ireland. This estate is still in the family having purchased by a cousin when the estates in Ireland became available for purchase by the heirs to hereditary leases. We believe that the hereditary lease had been in effect since the family was plantationed to Ireland in the early 1600s from Scotland but have not been able to trace the manorial records to prove this.

I believe absolutely in my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. "A day without learning something new or finding something to laugh about or be grateful for is 24 hours wasted."

Can anyone with an account in ancestry.com or some site similar help me? I was looking at the history of Hurley, MO and it kept saying you could get information free (which wasn't true for anything but a name), so I plugged in my Ggrandfather and Ggrandmother. When I plugged her in I got different spellings on both of them. For my Ggrandfather they have Leburn T Hurley (s/b Seburn). For my Ggrandmother they have Kimaxena Anne Tompkins (s/b Tamaxena). Can someone with access see if there is any more information on them like immigration records or any ancestors above them? They are where the brick wall is on part of my Dad's side. There and my other Ggrandfather. Thanks.

I was talking to my cousin (not by blood) last night and he told me about some information he has that he thought I gave him. It turns out he has more than I ever found. His daughter married a guy from Germany and they are going to go to Heisenstein (I guess that is a town) or at least to see the castle in a few weeks. That is reportedly where my ancestor came from. My cousin has a copy of a letter or some information about it from when they were trying to find relatives of Baron von Heisenstein, so Kat is going to take pictures of the castle and see what information she can find out. That should be interesting. My cousin is also going to talk to Grandma's niece to verify whatever he has is what she understands to be correct.

One of the things he has he said was several pages of something someone wrote about my GGrandfather. Apparently it was written by one of his step-children's children because it said he isn't her blood grandfather. When he gets more information from our 2nd cousin he will copy everything and send me what he has. Then he would like copies of what I have. I hope that he can decipher what I wrote down.

Anyway, I am a little excited to be able to find out a little more about Matthias Heisenstein, because I can only find information on his marriage in research (and that was Sandy's doing) and the date of his death from Grandma's list (though I can figure out his birth because she has his exact age written down).

That is inconsiderate of them to ask you to find 50 at a time. I would only ask for one or two at a time and from fairly close to where the volunteer lived. Sandy found me a couple things on my ancestors there in MO. I finally had one thing on my grandmother and one on her father other than what she had written on the papers in her Bible. Thanks to Sandy I know where my ggrandparents were married and my grandmother born. Of course, it still looks like my ggrandfather just appeared one day to get married, because I haven't been able to find anything else.

My problem with Find a Grave is people sent me hundreds of requests. My e-mail box was overflowing on person sent me more than 50 requests. I had to say no I will not do it. I would have done a few per person but this was crazy! They asked me for cemeteries far from my home too.

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